The 27th Hunger Games
by Meepmeep31
Summary: It is reaping day once again in district 12, and Sasha Dagwood is worried for her family. Her father had died in the Quarter Quell 2 years ago, and reaping day was always a horrible memory for the Dagwoods. But when none of Sasha's family is reaped, she should be relieved. Right? But no. Her best friend Melka is chosen, and Sasha realizes that the odds have not been in her favour.
1. Chapter 3

**Hunger Games Fanfic**

**hey there readers! im allison and i love the hunger games, and so my friend told me to start writing fan fiction. so here it is! enjoy!  
(i dont own the title "the hunger games, im just writing a fanfic or fun!)**

"Ladies first!" Della Rendon said, as she has every year for the past 27 years in district 12, and walked over to the glass ball containing all the girls' names.

'My name is in there 49 times' I thought to myself. I had to sign up for tesserae to feed my family of 6; my mother and 5 children. My dad had died in the Hunger Games in the first Quarter Quell two years ago, where our district had to vote for who would enter the games in the Capitol. My father was voted because he had recently been wrongly accused of stealing from the Head Peacekeeper, Donomolius Perdins, and was then widely hated because the whole district thought he was a fool. He was stabbed in the chest and face in the bloodbath. He was only 36 years old! I had a special, fiery hate for the Capitol now, and reaping day always brought sadness to my entire family.

I watched as Della walked as swiftly as her ridiculously high shoes and tight dress would allow towards the ball and she plunged her hand into the bowl with excitement. Nothing could have prepared me for what I heard.

"Melka Eromis"

That was my best friend.

**Chapter 2**

Melka was so weak, with long, straight brown hair and just barely passing 5 feet tall; she couldn't lift a toothpick, let alone fight against a Career. I looked through the swarm of relieved 14 year-old girls to see my life, my joy, my friend walking to her slow and ugly death. I caught her eye for a split second and saw her pleading with me to do something, to stand up to the Capitol, as we had always dreamed of doing, wasting countless hours in my cellar plotting this impossible occurrence. I gathered all my courage and yelled, "I volunteer! I, Sasha Dagwood, volunteer as tribute."

Melka looked at me with a different type of fear in her eyes. The fear I had felt seconds earlier, of helplessness, the feeling of having a part of you being ripped away to a land where you are transformed into one of two things: a filthy rich, spoiled and rude snob or a lifeless person pushing up daisies. For her and my family's sake I tried to look courageous, to look ready, fearless, but I was already internally saying my goodbyes.

Della came up to me and said "Well that's a first. A volunteer from district 12! What did you say your name was again?"

"Sasha Dagwood," I said with as much confidence as I could.

Della said, "Well, that was very brave Sasha! Now to the boys!"

She did her little waddle/run over to the other glass ball and I prayed for little Victor and Fram, praying that I wouldn't have to go in with my brothers, or worse, have to kill one of them.

"Hunter Splintwalter."

Oh god. Anyone but Hunter. I didn't want to go in to the arena with the boy I was hopelessly in love with. He had beautiful brown hair and thick eyebrows, with a square jaw and stunning green eyes. He had huge muscles from working at the butcher's with his father, having to carry 200 pound animal carcasses across town square many times a day before people start cutting off chunks.

He looked nervous as he walked stiffly up to the stage with two peacekeepers close behind. He looked at me and I tried to make him feel ok, feel assured, but I had a feeling I wasn't as convincing as I was trying to be.

Delma said "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the tributes of district 12!"

Nobody clapped. The silence seemed to echo off the stores in the square that were closed for the day. Nobody ever claps.

They whisked us away to the Justice Building, which brought back awful memories of picking up my father in a cold, wooden box, burying him in our backyard. The elevator stunk of moldy cheese and memories, of children, some only 12 years old, who would never come back. Of weeping parents picking up the lifeless body, stone cold, of who was once a beautiful, energetic person. Of shattered dreams.

"That will be me soon." I thought to myself. The elevator made its slow descent in to the basement of the Justice Building. I stepped out of the elevator into the ginormous room where the tributes say their goodbyes to their families, where you realize that you are truly doomed to die a slow, bloody death. No sooner than I could sit down on the soft, velvet couch did Melka run in, sobbing.

"Oh my goodness Sasha! That was so brave, but what will I do without you?" Her words were barely legible under her thick, pained sobs.

"You know I had to do it. I could never have lived with myself if I had let you die." I tried to sound brave for her, but it was just too much. I broke down and wept with her. Yes, I would look weak, yes I'm now on the Careers' easy kill list, but I didn't care. I sat, sobbing with Melka until the Peacekeeper pulled her away from me.

"Sasha, you have to win!" we're the last words I'll probably ever hear from my only best friend.

Then, my mom, Victor, Fram, Dahlia, Tella and Mara came bursting in, with my brothers sobbing and my two older sisters trying to stay strong. They weren't doing very well, and soon we were all sobbing. I noticed the Peacekeeper in our room had a single, wet streak down the side of his face when Tella, my little 4 year old brother, climbed up on my lap and cried into my shirt. My mom was only able to croak out a few words in her sad state.

"I'm not going to lose you like I lost your father. You have to win!"

She said this in a small voice, often interrupted by horrible, choking noises, due to an aching heart. Seeing her like this was unbearable. I looked at her, and at that moment, gazing into her bright blue eyes, I realized I would have to win. I would have to beat the odds, to be the first living tribute from district 12. I had to prove that just because I was underfed, didn't mean that I was worthless. I would win this, for Melka, for my mom, for all my family and especially my father, who's own life was taken by the Capitol's cruel form of entertainment.

**Chapter 3**

**hey guys! sorry i havent posted in a while; my internet was down :( here it is! also, i will soon need names for the tributes, president, stylists and gamemakers so pls give suggestions! i also love reviews, love getting feedback from readers, negative or positive. thanks for reading! enjoy!**

I had barely gotten to say goodbye when the hands were on my shoulders, yanking me violently out of the soft couch and the comfort of my loving family. I was shoved by a peacekeeper towards the platform the tributes have to walk along to get on the train, which in the stores is called "The Plank". I walked slowly and carefully, concentrating on putting one foot before the other, trying to look confident, though my head was swimming and the world was twisting and turning. I felt like I was going to be sick. Was this just a dream, would I wake up tomorrow morning, in my cozy bed above my family's sharpening shop? We sharpened knives, lawn mower blades, and just about every other blade known to man. I liked knives the best; the peacekeeper in Town Square taught me to throw one with accuracy and wield one in close combat, which could come in use in the Games. Marvin was an actor in films before the Dark Days, when the districts rebelled against the Capitol, and lost, which led to the Hunger Games being created in revenge. He had played a role in a film that involved knife fighting, and had been trained. He was the kindest peacekeeper I'd met; I bet he would watch the Games on the big screens in the Town Square, cheering me on.

I finally reached the train after what seemed like an eternity but was really only about 2 minutes. I looked over at Hunter and saw that he had also been crying, his face was very red and his eyes were puffy. He looked so young, so innocent, it was hard to believe he was actually a year older than me. Delma was urgently pushing us into the train, saying we had to keep on schedule in her strange Capitol accent, her bright blue wig teetering to the side. I stepped into the train and was speechless for a moment, stopping to take in the beauty and size of everything in the train car. Hunter broke the silence.

"Wow! This...thus is breathtaking. I've never seen so much food in my life!"

"Well, we like to make a good first impression!" Delma replied proudly.

I was still in awe when we sat down to dinner. I hadn't said a word since we stepped on the train that was now going about 400 kilometres an hour, and I decided to start a conversation.

"So, um...how are, things?" I asked to no one in particular. Boy, what a way to spark conversation.

"Pretty rough," Hunter replied dully, and I couldn't help but start laughing. He started to laugh lightly too, and soon we were both laughing hysterically, much to Delma's confusion. She was just staring at us all weird. We stopped after about 5 minutes and continued our meal, and neither of us talked again.

After dinner, Delma showed us our bedrooms and told us to get changed into something comfortable, we were going to watch a replay of all the reapings in the other districts. I took off my heavy red dress and took my long blonde hair out of the fancy updo my mother put in, special for the reaping. I looked in the mirror and saw myself clearly for the first time in about 5 years, when our mirror was new and clean. I looked into the fancy, Capitol mirror and saw my large brown eyes, my small nose, my red lips in detail and noticed how much I really look like my father. I let my long, straight hair fall down, landing in the middle of my back. I left the bathroom and changed into a coral pink shirt and green shorts and made my way down to the lounging car and found I was the first to arrive. I looked at the clock, which read 6:48; the reapings were on television at 7. I had a while. I looked to one of the Avoxes and ordered a cup of tea. He rushed away and returned with a steaming cup of tea within a minute. I took a sip, and it tasted like heaven, much better than the pine needle tea that I was used to at my house. I drank it in seconds, and asked the Avox for another, who rushed off again. I heard footsteps down the hall and saw Hunter, wearing a white and blue striped shirt and red capri pants. He was looking very Capitol-esque right now! I liked it though; the stripes went well with his brown hair, and he looked amazing. He sat down next to me and as he sat, his hand brushed mine slightly and I felt a spark, like a current of warmth spreading through my veins. It only lasted a second though, and he sat down and was silent for a bit. The Avox returned with my tea, nut he brought two cups this time and I poured one for myself and one for Hunter. He took a sip.

"Oh my. This tea is delicious!" He said, and I giggled.

"I know! It's so much better than the pine tea that we get at home," I agreed, and Hunter nodded.

"You should wear your hair down more often. It's very long and pretty." He said, and I blushed, and my knees went weak for a second, and I was thankful that I was sitting down.

"Thank you. I don't often wear it down because when I was little, I got it stuck in one of the sharpeners, and had to get it cut very short to even it out!" I replied, and he laughed.

Delma walked in just as we were laughing, and she noticed the time; 6:59.

"Oh look! We're early!" She said happily, and turned on the television with a stick that had many buttons on it. She pressed a few different buttons, and different images popped up on the screen. She pressed one more button and I saw the Capitol seal and heard the anthem play. Time to meet my competition.

**Chapter 4**

**hey guys! im at school right now and im allowed on computer. YAY! so here's the third chapter. **

The last notes of the anthem played out and I saw the Town Square in district 1. It was very nice, at least for the districts, as districts 1, 2 and 4 are like the Capitol's pets. They have lots of money and a lot of the kids train for the Games for years and volunteer when they turn 18. In the other districts we call them the Careers, and they most often win. A broad shouldered girl with short black hair volunteered for a scrawny 14 year old, and a brutish looking boy with blonde hair and rippling muscles was practically bouncing as he made his way to the stage. They shook hands, and then the camera cut to the reaping in district 2. Two 16 year olds were picked, and the girl looked scared but the boy looked confident and determined. They cut to district 3, where two skinny twigs, one with glasses, were picked and no one volunteered. In district 4, again, two tributes that looked like siblings volunteered for two little rich kids that looked like sacks of bones. In district 5, two average size kids were picked, and the same for 6, 7, 8 and 9, but from 10 two twelve year olds got picked, and nobody clapped. In 11 two dark skinned short kids, I don't know what age, were picked. And then, me and Hunter. I looked so emotionless on that stage, I was proud of myself. The camera then cut to a live broadcast from the president of Panem, President Cornwall. He was very young and irresponsible, the son of the former president. He welcomed the ributes to the games and promised that this year would be the "best Games yet". The Capitol seal showed and the anthem played again, and Delma flicked off the television.

"Well, looks like it will be a tough Games this year! Since you two don't have a mentor, I'll be controlling your flow of gifts, and I'll try to keep them coming!" Delma said with a fake smile.

It must be tough for her, having to see the tributes through their time in the Capitol, and then watch them die. I felt a pang of sympathy for Delma then, which went away quickly, as she was often quite annoying. She sent us to our bedrooms for the night, promising that tomorrow would be the "biggest day of your life!". I walked through the hall with Hunter and when we reached my room, those beautiful, sparkling green eyes trained on me.

"Goodnight, Sasha. See you in the morning!" He said softly, and turned to walk down the hall.

I watched him go, wishing I could hold him close, and after he reached his room, I stepped into mine and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I drifted in and out of sleep, having dreams about the square back in district 12, about Marvin, about that burly, sturdy looking girl with the short black hair, about knives, my death, Hunter's death, Hunters life, and many other things. I woke up as the sun was just poking up above the horizon, and got out of bed groggily. I got up and had another shower. The water was warm and nice, unlike the showers at home. I stayed in there for about an hour, singing, washing my hair, and feeling happy. As soon as I stepped out of teh shower though, that feeling of peace vanished. I remembered where I was, and worse, where I was headed. I dried myself off and pulled my hair back into a braid, then decided to wear it down, remembering what Hunter said last night. I put on a gray and pink striped shirt and yellow shorts with a red belt and went down to breakfast. Hunter and Delma were already seated, Hunter still in his pajamas. He smiled when he looked at my hair, and I blushed.

An Avox came in and placed a feast before me: there were eggs, sausages, bacon strips, whole wheat toast with butter, waffles with syrup and strawberries. I plowed through the food, and once I was done I looked up, embarassed, to realize that Hunter had done the same thing. The Avix brought another round of food before us, and it was gone in a matter of seconds. Delma seemed displeased with our manners but I didn't care; I had never had so much food in my entire life, and I wasn't wasting a crumb. Hunter and I were starting to look a little bit green after our fourth round, and I pushed my plate away, too stuffed to eat another drop of whipped cream or seed on a strawberry. Hunter followed suit. Suddenly the train car became dark. I jumped in my seat.

"Oh my, we're almost there!" Delma said excitedly and I realized that I wasn't ready for this. My four rounds of breakfast were threatening to make a reappearance, and I felt sick. We were plunged into light after a while and I saw cameras flashing and tons of brightly coloured people gathered around the train tracks. The train slowly came to a stop, and I prepared myself for what was to come in the next few weeks; beauty, training, public appearances, intereviews and then most likely death. Here goes.


	2. Chapter 2

I stepped out of the train and saw people of many different shapes and bright colours bouncing with joy, trying to get the first glimpse of the district 12 tributes. I don't know why, we've never won. My first impulse was to run back onto the train, but there were three peacekeepers behind me, blocking the door. I forced a smile and waved to the crowd of bubbly Capitol residents. I looked over at Hunter to see he was doing the same thing. We did this for about 5, long minutes until we were pushed into a long black car with seats as soft and comfortable as the couch in the Justice Building, back in district 12. We drove for a little while and I noticed that Hunter had changed out of his pajamas; thank goodness. He was wearing a white shirt with a pocket over his heart and blue jeans. He really was turning into a Capitol kid! It looked good on him though. I looked down and realized I was still wearing my gray and pink shirt and yellow shorts. Oh well, best to look natural for my first Capitol appearance.

We arrived at the Training Centre and we were shoved in, through the doors held open by peacekeepers. Two of them were holding both of my arms, keeping me moving forward. They picked me up like I was a sack of potatoes and dropped me on a bed. There were two stylists there waiting for me, and as soon as I touched the bed they went to work. They put goopy paste on strips of paper, stuck them to my legs and arms and then ripped them off. I felt like I was being plucked, much like a chicken. This went on for about an hour before they set to work with the tweezers. They plucked away any stray hairs, shaped my eyebrows, and finally we were done. They stuck me in a tub filled with a sort of foam that was cold and stung a bit at first, and then became soothing. They took me out and wrapped me in a robe, and brought me to my clothing designer's room. The first thing I noticed about my designer was that she was green. Not sick green, but her entire body was neon green. She wore a huge bright pink dress that poofed out around her legs and dragged on the floor. I was taller than her, which I took pride in. She introduced herself.

"Hi there Sasha! My name is Myama. I will be your stylist for this Games. You look a lot like a tribute I had a few years ago… what was his name…" She pondered.

"Kieran Dagwood?" I asked, knowing that was the answer.

"Oh yes! Quite a fine young man. Was he your brother?"

"Father," I said, my eyes tearing up.

"Oh honey, I am so sorry. He was one of my favourite tributes, he was very cooperative." She hugged me for a little bit, and I realized that she was much better than the other stylists or people in the Capitol. She actually had sympathy for her tributes, actually cared that they were being sent to die.

She put me in a black, powdery leotard with matching tights to represent coal, and I had a black headband made of the same fabric and black flats. She gave me a back wrap-around skirt to wear over the leggings. She let my hair fall down straight in the hair band and put some black streaks in it, and I looked in the mirror. I looked like I was a hot coal, shimmering in the heat. I felt beautiful. I wondered what Hunter was wearing, and as we walked down to the stables to get in my chariot for the opening ceremonies, I saw him. He was wearing the same fabric but he was wearing more of a suit, with a black jacket of the shimmer fabric and a regular black dress shirt, and pants of the same material as the jacket. They called it melko fabric. I stepped into the chariot and Hunter got in after me. Our horses were jet black, same as the chariot. I peered over the other chariots and saw that the large stable doors swung open slowly, and the district 1 chariot left the stable. Before I knew it, our horses pulled forward and I almost fell out of the chariot, but Hunter grabbed my hand. I held on, using the other hand to wave.

As soon as we pulled out of the stable, all eyes turned on us. We must have looked amazing, in the evening light. I caught a glimpse of myself on the large screens and we were truly mesmerizing. We were spectacular, at least compared to the other tributes, in the same outfits as they wear every year. People had actually bothered to learn our names, and were chanting and cheering "SASHA! HUNTER! SASHA! HUNTER!" and it felt amazing. I smiled, waved and blew kisses to the adoring crowd. We reached President Cornwall's mansion within 10 minutes, and we did a circle around the huge fountain. President Cornwall gave a speech about how the Games started, about the Dark Days and kept promising that these Games would be the "best ones yet", which worried me. The cameras were trained on me and Hunter for most of the time, and people were still screaming our names. No one was paying close attention to President Cornwall's speech. The tributes were giving us hateful glares; we were stealing their spotlight. It meant more sponsors for us, so I didn't care. President Cornwall finished his speech and we did one last round around the fountain, and then entered the stable doors in the Training Centre. Myama, Hunter's stylist and Delma were there. They all rushed up to us, bubbling with excitement. They kept telling us we did a great job, and how many sponsors were already lined up to shower us with gifts in the arena. I realized I was still grabbing Hunter's hand, and his hand was turning dark purple. I let go immediately and looked down, embarrassed (gee, I was doing that a lot lately.)


	3. Chapter 4

"No, it kept me on that chariot," Hunter said, reading my mind.

We walked into the Training Centre and Delma pushed the button that had the 12 on it in the elevator and rocketed skyward, much faster than the elevator in the Justice Building. We reached the 12th floor and I gasped. It was even nicer than the train car! There were 5 Avoxes in different places in the room. There were crystal chandeliers, tiled floors and each bedroom had its own bathroom! I headed to my room to have a shower. I walked into the bathroom and saw a golden toilet, a huge Jacuzzi, with a built in shower, and many creams, lotions and potions inside a cupboard, which was actually the mirror, folding out. I got in the shower and it turned on automatically, the perfect temperature flowing from the shiny silver shower head. I had an even longer shower than on the train, and it was about 10:30 when I got out. I got into a light purple nightgown and fell asleep instantly.

I woke up to the sun streaming in my window, and it was temporarily peaceful. Key word: temporarily. Delma came to my door and knocked loudly. I changed into a pair of denim shorts and a blue tank top and walked to the dining room. This time I beat Hunter to the table, but I decided to be polite and wait for everyone to arrive at the table before digging into the feast set before me. It was torture, but I survived. He arrived in the dining room still in his pajamas. He yawned, sat down, and dug into his plentiful breakfast. We finished the first course when Delma spoke.

"So, we have your first day of training today!" She said with excitement.

"Yay." Hunter said dismissively, and I giggled.

"You are to be in the gymnasium at 9 o'clock," Delma said, sounding somewhat angry and hurt. She wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin and left the room.

We finished our breakfasts and went back to our rooms, where I found a red and black uniform with the number 12 on it folded neatly on the end of my bed. Our training uniforms, I guess. I put it on and swung my arms around for a bit. A perfect fit. I tied my hair back in a ponytail and walked out to the hall with Hunter, who made the slightest frown after looking at my hair. I felt bad, but it was training. I wasn't going to have my hair flying around in my face. We got in the elevator and pushed the basement button. We shot downward and reached the basement in less than 30 seconds.

We stepped out of the elevator and walked into the gym. We were the first ones there, and we took the extra time to scope out the stations. There were so many; knot tying, archery, fire building, obstacle courses, heavy weights and many more. I would stay away from the knife handling station, to hide my abilities. Also, I should learn all I can, I'm already pretty confident with knives. The other tributes started to slowly trickle in, and we were still getting dirty looks for our costumes. The fact that we were the first ones there couldn't have helped either. We were the "good students". I would need to watch the other tributes closely, observe their talents. The Games have officially begun.


End file.
